Gujarati Muslim merchants in colonial Bombay: Talk at Asiatic Society

I thoroughly enjoyed my talk at Asiatic Society of Mumbai on Gujarati Muslim trading communities of colonial Bombay. I was in conversation with historian Murali Ranganathan and was very pleased to see a packed house in the hallowed Durbar Hall of the majestic Asiatic Society of Mumbai. I drew on my research at Oxford where I made sense of how Bohra, Khoja, and Memon merchants negotiated the legal architecture as political and economic actors. My thesis is under contract with Cambridge University Press (CUP) and it was heartening to see people ask about when the book will come out!

In the audience were members of the Lalljee, Barodawalla, Lukmani, Sayani, Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy, Fyzee, Tyabji, Rogay families. These are the ones I met and could spot. I am sure there were many others. Two news reports, in Mumbai Mirror and Mid Day, also helped in drawing attention.

As I said in my talk, these three communities have been seen as big players in foreign trade and much less work has been done on them as key players in the political economy of colonial Bombay and India. The other popular way to examine them has been through their relationship with their religious leaders.

Coincidentally, EPW has just published my review of Michael O’Sullivan’s book No Birds of Passage where those interested can get a better sense of my research. Sullivan’s book shows that despite several differences all the three Gujarati Muslim communities can be examined together.

I must also add that these three communities have always been a small fraction of the total Muslim population. And even among them, the vast majority did not become big merchants or industrialists.

Few years ago reading a book about Wockhardt, I was disappointed that not enough attention was given to their early avatar in colonial Bombay. Similarly, there is a backstory to how Asif Currimbhoy, Ismail Merchant, Salim Ali, and Akbar Padamsee - to name a few - excelled in their fields in Independent India.

The Q and A was slated to be for 15 minutes but it went on for much longer.

I must end my post by repeating that the first Muslim baronet in colonial India was a Khoja and the first Muslim ICS officer was a Sulaimani Bohra. Badruddin Tyabji and Rahimtoola Sayani were the first two Muslim Presidents of Congress party. Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy presided over the first session of the Muslim League in Karachi.